This invention relates to an eyelid retractor for electrosurgery.
Electrosurgery is a common procedure for doctors in all fields, including opthalmology, where it has been used in eyelid procedures where cutting or coagulation is required. One common procedure is known as transconjuntival blepharoplasty, which is the removal of fat pads from the lower lidxe2x80x94in layman terms the removal or reduction of the common bags under the eyes. In this procedure, a lid retractor is applied to the lower lid to pull it down and expose the fat pads inside. One known retractor has a single hook end which can be inserted in a portion of the lower lid to pull down that portion to expose a fat pad underneath. Electrosurgical handpieces are commercially available that will accommodate a wide variety of electrodes shapes and sizes, such as needles, blades, scalpels, balls and wire loops which can be used to excise the fat pad. However, several fat pads are present under the lower lid and to remove the other fat pads requires that the retractor may have to be removed and placed in another opposition over the next fat pad to expose it for excision.
A limitation of this procedure is the additional time spent in having each time to shut off the electrosurgical instrument, move the retractor to a new location over the next fat pad, and activate the instrument to excise that fat pad, and so on.
An object of the invention is a novel lid retractor for use in electrosurgery on eyelids or portions of the eye under the lid which avoids having to move the retractor during the procedure.
Another object of the invention is a novel lid retractor for use in transconjuntival blepharoplasty electrosurgery on eyelids which avoids having to move the retractor during the procedure.
According to one aspect of the invention, the lid retractor comprises a handle which at one end, the gripper end, divides into several projections each terminating in a hook that can be placed over the lower lid retractor to enable the lower lid retractor to be retracted to access lid or eye regions under the lid retractor.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gripper end is divided into two substantially parallel arms each of which terminates in a looped over portion that will fit under the typical eyelid of a patient. The arms are separated by a distance approximately equal to or somewhat smaller to the width of a typical fat pad. The total width of the gripper end is approximately equal to the average width of a typical fat pad. As a result, when the gripper is placed on the lower lid to retract same with the two arms located approximately on opposite sides of the middle fat pad, between it and the adjacent fat pads, then all three fat pads can be reached by an electrosurgical electrode without relocating the gripper.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of the invention.